the dream of determination
by aikotters
Summary: Rekushin decides to perform an experiment. Mirei helps. It could have gone worse.


_Warnings: near death experiences, canon typical violence, sad backstory, touch starved, OCs_

* * *

Whenever the Father looked outside the window next to his work tables and computer, his heart was always warmed. The large form of his Digimon son playing with the smaller form of his adopted dragon daughter was out there in the courtyard. He didn't need to be able to hear them to feel the happiness they radiated. It was the first time in a long time that the Son had felt so happy to be home. The Father knew, his wife, the Mother, had told him so. She could feel her son's emotions far more acutely than he could.

The little girl, his darling Daughter, was jumping all over the large form of the Son, from his great hands to his shoulders, head and neck. She thumped his face plate with a tiny fist and would slide down his back down to his legs, where she would be snatched back up and the process would start all over again. They seemed to be having fun with the game so far. The Daughter he could see was laughing, while he could _feel_ the enjoyment being buzzed from the great form of the Son.

Binary itself was feeling a sense of joy the Father had never felt in all the long years he'd lived here. Even the Elves, his wife's creations, were far more productive as they built toys, clothes and future weapons for the darling little girl darting around the playful Arcadimon in the courtyard. The Daughter had really been a balm to all their aching souls. She gave them all something that could never be replicated, or replaced.

The Father only wished he was more ready for all of this himself. Physical affection was still difficult, with the memory of his own long dead parents still arching as a phantom over him. As much as he tried, pats on the head, loving words and other things could not give the same happiness a hug could for his Daughter. She was a girl who _craved_ physical contact, which he was sure was something that originated from how she was brought to them. The Son didn't know how she got there, but she was in Signpost Forest all by herself, cold, hungry. No clothes and nothing to her name. Not even a name itself.

The Mother, when she accepted the child, hardly let her go. Wanted to call her their 'miracle'. Considering the Son's own name (Peaches), the Father instead asked if he could name her. When the Mother acquiesced, the Father decided to call her their little 'prayer'. It was about the same thing, all things told, only 'Mirei' was a far better name than 'Kiseki'.

The Father sighed, regretfully turning away from the window with great reluctance. He went back to his work, blueprints for a great machine. One of his oldest friends was overlooking this blueprint, scanning over it critically. He smiled wanly, watching them do so. If anyone could find faults in something, it would be them. Especially since this was supposed to be for _them._

"If you had eyes, I would say not to stare so hard or they would end up permanently crossing." He teased gently. They didn't respond, not verbally at any rate. They didn't have a mouth to do so. Instead, he got a vague feeling of projected annoyance. "Oh, come on. It is not like you haven't joked at my expense before."

If they had a mouth, the other would have probably responded with a 'That's different!' or some such nonsense before saying his life wasn't about to change forever. He still rolled his eyes, however, when the annoyed feeling grew.

"Come now. If you really want this to get done, then stop this. You waited this long to be born, my friend. A couple more hours as _I_ build this machine for _you_ will not kill you." The Father scolded lightly. The annoyed feeling didn't leave in the slightest, though its subject matter shifted. The Father smiled slightly again, sitting down to look over the plans. This machine was supposed to draw in ambient Digital matter to form a body for a lost Soul, as his friend technically was. It was meant to be used in cases where Digimon or humans could not be reborn normally in the natural cycle the King had introduced when he became his wife's official vassal. It was going to require an immense amount of energy – luckily they lived near a vast source of _thermal power_ – and required having some sort of vessel _and_ the 'Lost Soul' present.

The latter was the most difficult part. His friend was able to manifest because he had long since been this way, having been a Lost Soul since before the beginning of the world. With his unique existence, he became very powerful, able to influence Digimon evolution in a way that still left the Father baffled. And what was so amazing, this Lost Soul was able to break free from the Digital Sea without a physical form. Well, besides the red, gem-like shape their soul had taken.

Red. The color of both blood, and Determination. Thinking about it, The Father shouldn't have been so surprised. Determined people did the most surprising and _very_ great things. Not the best things a lot of the time. But he could admire how someone could throw all caution to the wind to get what they wanted.

Of course there was still one big problem with this entire thing.

"I have managed to take everything I could think of into account for this, my friend." The Father stated, looking over the list of materials he needed to create this machine. "But even with everything being otherwise perfect, something could still happen. And I am not sure you would survive it if something were to go wrong." The annoyed feeling left instantly at that, left behind by a considering one. The Father continued, "We do not have to do this now. As I said, you waited so long already. I am sure a year or two more would not hurt if you truly wanted this to be as safe as possible, correct?"

After a moment, the Lost Soul finally projected feelings into words. Very clearly, it said, "_**I am ready to live now, Rekushin.**_"

The Father sighed after a moment, smiling fondly at his old friend. He looked a little exasperated, but that was a usual with his long time friend. "Very well then." He said softly. "Let us move back down to the volcano so I can assemble the machine." He stood from his work table once more, glancing outside into the courtyard once more. The playing had ended for the moment. His darling Daughter slept upon the Son's chest as they both lay under the shade of the great fruit tree his wife had planted so long ago. He stood there a moment, watching with a smile. Then it was time to go.

His friend was _very_ eager, after all.

* * *

It was a nice peaceful day, not one of those days that meant she should be dealing with things bigger than her. Of course, Mirei had a habit of dealing with things much bigger than her, mostly because she could. But right now, she didn't wanna. She curled more comfortably onto her big brother's chest.

Either the strings of fate didn't notice nor care, for they gave more insistent tugs at her fingers anyway. She batted at them, mewing discomfort. They have a rough yank and she opened her eyes a slit, glaring in no direction in particular. "Papa..." She knew it was him, papa usually did things like this. It made her mama crazy sometimes. "I'm tired..."

Still, she picked herself up and yawned, rolling off her brother's body and going to wander wherever her papa was. Who knew what trouble he was getting into without her help?

Her wanderings took her out of Binary's courtyard and the castle itself. Past the flowering springtime fields and into barren ground that became cracked by heat. Then to volcanic rock formed by millennia of constant lava flows. Then finally to mental walkways, in a building constructed to collect the vast thermal energy made available with all the volcanic activity.

It had a few names. Specifically, the little girl's father called it _The Core _due to it being used to power most of his experiments, thus it being _the core_ of his work. That joke always made her mother and the Head Elves groan.

She found herself wandering the building with no small amount of wonder. She had never been here before. She didn't know what half the things she saw did. All of the metal pipes and the wires plugging into everything made sense, but none of the devices she saw she could explain. But she was still young. She had time to learn.

Then she came along to where her father was. It was a room much smaller than the others. But then again, the machine in it was much smaller... If quite a bit more purposeful looking than the others. The others looked like they merely ran tests. This one looked like it did something.

It also looked like a skull. A skull with a very weird mouth but a skull none the less. The 'jaws' were on the sides of the face, almost like the mandibles of an insect. It had great 'horns' that crackled with power. Its 'eye sockets' were large and strangely hollow.

Mirei quickly saw her father's towering figure near it, eyes intent on each burst of power. She could feel every bit of that energy oozing from it. She hoped that didn't mean something was going wrong. That would be the last thing her papa needed right now, as well as a distraction. But, well the strings had said 'come here' so she did. He should know she was here.

She cleared her throat, rubbing the last bit of sleep from her eyes. "Papa? Whatcha doing?"

Her father started, glancing over back to her in the door. His surprise was understandable. He didn't expect her to be there. Thankfully other than wide eyes, nothing happened due to his attention being drawn away from the machine.

"Mirei?" He asked, walking over to her and kneeling down so she didn't have to crane her neck to look at his face. "What are you doing here? I thought you hated the heat of the volcano."

Mirei paused, hands raised as if to reach for his neck, the reflexive reaction for a child to make to a family member, or at least for her. Then she lowered them. She nodded. She did hate the heat, it made her stomach squirm and skin itch. She was learning to tolerate it though. Curiosity and the fates were winning out over it at the moment though. "The strings tugged me t' find you." She tried very hard to speak properly, as he often did, but it wasn't as fun as he made it seem. "What are you doing?"

Her father saw her action. He saw how reflexive it was. As always, he wished he could give it to her, despite the specters over his shoulders. "I am helping a friend." He said after a moment. "I am finally repaying him for all the help he has given me. I have worked very hard for this day and we both hope that this will succeed. For both our sakes."

Mirei nodded slowly, turning this over. As she was a smart child, even for her species, it was very easy for her to understand. She wiped sweat from her forehead. "Can I help?" She asked, peering at the machine with more interest than she previously had.

Her father raised an eyebrow at her, seemingly amused now. "Oh? You want to help, my darling? Well, I suppose. Not much to do now but wait as the machine gathers energy and wait for my friend to return. As a young godling though, I suppose you need to be around when we perform _miracles_." He chuckled softly for some odd reason, before reaching out his hand for her to grab onto. "To see how we do them, that is."

Mirei's eyes went wide at the thought and she took his hand almost too eagerly. "Okay!" She did not realize that she had performed many miracles in her short little life. It seemed irrelevant to helping her papa do them, or watch them be done. She also had a near unquenchable thirst for knowledge. So, he had won on both counts.

Her father smiled and chuckled, leading the girl closer to his machine. "I call this the Determination Synthesizer." He told his young daughter. "After years of study, I have come to realize that all beings, even you and I, are a result of being determined to exist. All beings carry this determination within them. When this determination leaves due to life or circumstances, our bodies age and grow damaged." He waved at the machine. "Thus, the Determination Synthesizer. It creates Determination from the atmosphere, converted from the energy the Core provides. With it, I will be able to combat things like depression, heal long time injuries or even bring back the dead." Something that was impossible for him and Norn to do. Luthander could, but that was because the Code Crown had chosen him, and it had a lot of powers he still didn't understand.

Mirei examined the machine, squinting at its features. "Looks like a Goatmon," she told her father. Not in doubt of him and his skill (though curing something as big and scary as depression sounded like that sounded weird. If it could be cured as easily as her papa making a machine, why wasn't it cured yet?), but in simple observation. "Papa, so if you can do that, you can make life out of thin air too? Is that what you're doing right now?"

Rekushin blinked for a moment, looking surprised. Then he chuckled again and reached down to ruffle her hair, impressed. She was _his_ daughter, after all. He shouldn't be so shocked that she'd be able to deduce this. "In essence, yes." He replied. "In actuality, it isn't that simple. I am trying to give life to a Lost Soul. You know what Lost Souls are, right?"

Mirei leaned to his hand, almost letting out a delighted purr before she contained herself. She wasn't supposed to do that, it was inappropriate. Then she took a moment or two to answer the question. "Souls that can't be alive, right? That can't touch anything without a lot of power?"

"Indeed." Rekushin said. He looked off in a specific direction as he answered her, his smile becoming more of an amused smirk once he caught sight of something. "And I know one. I've had one for a friend for many years. He wishes to finally live, after acting in a very important role for a long time."

Mirei made to follow his eyes and as she did, something red and hard smacked her right in the forehead. Mirei let out a whine of discontent and responded the way her brother had taught her how: punching it straight up in the air.

"That was rude," she mumbled, rubbing the spot on her face.

"And that," Rekushin laughed aloud. It was definitely a rare moment of levity from him, due to the look he got from his daughter. She'd never seen him explode with laughter quite like this. "Is exactly the Lost Soul I was talking about. He was merely curious, daughter. He is the Light of Evolution."

The red soul gem slowly floated down, a cut ruby diamond that looked like it would have fetched quite a price... If it wasn't alive. Or glowing in anger over being treated that way.

Mirei blinked in surprise, then looked at it. "Hm." She put her hands on her hips and examined the little jewel. Then she let out a soft hmph. "You would be prettier if you weren't rude," she told said Lost Soul. "Even I don't hit people to say hi to them. That's not how evolution gets done. All ya had t' do was float."

The gem vibrated angrily in the air for a moment, almost like it was about to dive back down at her again. It only stopped because Rekushin clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"Come now, this is my daughter." He reprimanded lightly. "What she said is true. You do not greet someone by colliding with them." The gem vibrated again and Rekushin gave a sigh. "Well, you did run into her without warning. I would have retaliated, too. I still might, to be honest." Rekushin gave his daughter a pat on the head, smiling down at her. "After all, she is my little darling. You don't hit a man's darling little children in front of him."

The gem went quiet, floating there for a long moment. Then it vibrated again, making Rekushin sigh. "You being excited isn't an excuse, but it's fine. I accept your apology." He turned to Mirei. "Don't we, my darling?"

Mirei blinked once, then again, struck by the pet name. She squinted, peering at the red gem and seeming to try to dissect it with her eyes. Then she leaned into her father's hand, brightening all at once like the sun in the sky. "Yup!" She held out her hands to the gem. "Hello! It's nice to meetcha for real now!"

Never mind that her papa had complimented her again, had said he would protect her. She wasn't quite sure if she needed protecting from the gem really, only that she needed protection from something. Not that she believed that either, she was strong. She also wanted to adventure so much more than she wanted to be protected. But if it made her family happy, she couldn't deny them anything of the sort.

Especially not if she got to see her father do advanced science.

The gem vibrated again, only this time Mirei was able to hear what her father could when it did. Words floated in the air in a ghostly, childlike voice like hers, "Nice to meetcha."

Rekushin watched the way her face lit up from both his affection and hearing someone around her age for once and felt his heart constrict for a moment. He gave the girl a gentle smile to his little darling and patted her head again. "He doesn't have a name yet." Rekushin stated. "I've only ever known him as the Digi-Entelechy. When he is properly with a body he will need one, my darling. Do you think you could help me come up with one when he is?"

Mirei proceeded to pout, just a little, because did he really have to ask? Of course she would. Then she beamed up at him, all teeth and joy. "Yah!" She wiggled a little and looked back at the gem. "If you're okay with it, Ente~" Then she frowned. A thought crossed her face, harmless to her, but in the end, probably not harmless in the slightest. "Wouldn't Mama be more help than me? She named Peaches!"

"And that is why I want your help, darling." Rekushin chuckled. "Think seriously about your brother's name and you will know why." He looked at the floating gem, then the machine he had built. Rekushin gently pat Mirei on the head once more, looking between both his old friend and his daughter with a smile. "Well. I believe it's time."

Mirei turned this over in her head a moment. Then she took her father's hand and squeezed his fingers. "Yeah..." She liked Peaches' name because it didn't fit at all. That wouldn't be good for this one though, they were just a baby. A cute baby now but they would be a baby nevertheless. So she would have to think of something better. Too bad she had absolutely no idea. She squeezed his hand again and turned to follow his eyes. "Right." A smile quivered on her lips, excitement making her heart thump loudly.

It was time.

Her father smiled down at her, closing his hand around her much smaller one. Then, after a moment of thinking about it, reached down and plucked her up, holding her against him with one arm, kissing her forehead. He had to make this even more special for her. He knew how much she wanted his hugs. Might as well give her one as they performed a miracle.

Mirei latched onto him in an instant, almost glowing anew. Her papa was hugging her, he hugged her. If the voice wasn't so loud, she wouldn't be able to pay attention to what's happening in the slightest.

As this happened, the machine gave a loud buzzing sound as the energy built to its zenith, lightning crackling around the horns more and more as it gathered. An alarm played once as it reached the desired amount, and then slowly, oddly, like a snake the skull _opened_. Only, it opened sideways, folding away oddly like some sort of plant instead of a machine made of metal. The 'gullet' of the machine glowed impossibly brightly, like the light at the end of a tunnel.

The gem vibrated and Rekushin laughed. "Yes, it is time. You must enter the machine to begin the process. Afterwards, you will finally have the body you desire." He almost laughed again when the gem all but flew into the 'mouth' of the machine. As soon as it did, the 'mouth' folded back into its proper shape, snapping closed with an odd finality.

"LOST SOUL DETECTED." A loud voice said from the machine. The voice was masculine with an odd tone that echoed in the room. It had a very deep baritone to it. "BEGINNING REVIVAL PROCESS. DRAWING IN AMBIENT DIGITAL MATTER TO FORM BODY."

She watched, listened. Mirei thought about what was said for a few seconds. Then, like watching a ball fly towards your face, she said, very softly. "Papa? Wouldn't we... Wouldn't we be full of ambient data? We use it to make and break things all the time... Won't the machine try to use us?"

Rekushin paused for a moment before replying, "You have a good point, my darling. There however should be enough ambient data in the room other than us for it to make my friend a body with."

However, his words were full of doubt, his voice strained as he realized more and more standing so close probably wasn't the best of ideas. As he showed by beginning to back away.

It was all for naught, however, as the machine announced, "SURROUNDING DIGITAL MATTER INEFFICIENT. SEARCHING FOR NEW SOURCES." At that, Rekushin turned and began to run. The terror he felt in his chest amplified when he heard the next announcement behind him. "NEW SOURCES FOUND. BEGINNING DRAWING PHASE."

Instantly all of his forward momentum was lost and he found himself struggling against a pull he felt behind him. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, holding Mirei tight against him because he felt the same presence drawing her back as well. He wasn't about to lose her, even if it made taking his next step away from the machine so much harder. It had a maximum range of sixty feet, he only had to go a little farther for them to no longer be a target for the machine to pull in.

Mirei held onto him as tight as her talosian fingers could allow. She knew what he was thinking. This was her papa and everyone in the house seemed to want to protect her more than be alive for her and it was very weird. It wasn't like she wouldn't be sad if they died, or it wouldn't be lonely or worse. It had been lonely and sad when Lillie died and when Papa Elf had turned into a crystal, how could this not be the same?

Well. She didn't want her papa to die. Mama would be sad. And so would she of course. She just... Had to figure out how to stop the machine. Or redirect it. Or something. Otherwise who knew what would happen? It could get the entire castle and everyone would be hurt!

Mirei turned her head and looked at the skull. "Ente!" She called into the gleaming light. "You've gotta stop! You're trying to eat us too! You don't wanna eat Papa too, do you?"

Mirei's words reached the entity within, but he was just as powerless to do anything now too. His body was being created and already his massive powers he once had were being dwindled to nothing. He had no more power over the situation than they did. Not to mention his consciousness was slowly fading as his new form was made. It was growing harder to comprehend what was going on as the process went on.

Rekushin almost wanted to laugh at Mirei trying to reach out to his friend. If only it were that simple. It was the machine at work, nothing more. It really wasn't his friend's fault. If only his friend had control over what he could draw in. If they survived this time, then it would be something to consider. If he didn't just dismantle this machine for how dangerous it was proving to be.

"Hold on, darling." Rekushin grunted with the effort to move. "We're almost free... Of it's sphere of influence. Then it will... Have to rely only on the data in the air... To build his body." He took another couple steps, despite the rattling of the catwalk. He winced at the sound of some of it coming loose behind them, immediately getting sucked into the machine to fuel the process.

Mirei gave her father a fondly exasperated look. Sometimes for such a smart man he could be so silly. This world lived off of dreams and feelings and wishes. No one was helpless as long as they didn't let themselves be. And she knew that was what he was thinking. He was thinking too hard about moving and not about removing... wait. That was it! That was definitely it! She was sure. She wriggled against her father, forcing him to change his grip as she turned to face the monster trying to eat them both alive. He must be a very powerful Soul if he needed them to do this. And there was something really powerful right in the room. This machine.

"Ente!" she shouted again, this time gripping Rekushin's arms to hold herself. "Eat the machine! There's lots of data in it. Look at the machine and eat it! Make it change targets!"

People often ate at themselves on the inside after all, especially when they were starving so bad they couldn't help it. If this sphere was outward, they just had to turn it inward.

Now that was an idea. The Digi-Entelechy had no idea if it could influence things anymore, much less this machine. But that's what it was going to try to do. It was not going to let its friend and his daughter down.

Huh. That was an oddly determined thought. Perhaps that's why Rekushin had called it the DT Machine. Well, it was going to put all this newly rising determination to good use, then. It had better get started now, it saw another part of the catwalk rip off to be consumed by the machine. With that, it got to work putting its remaining will into changing things.

"I do not think he can do anything in there, darling." Rekushin gritted his teeth. It was getting harder to move and he knew he had too. He heard that same catwalk tearing away, he needed to move or else he and Mirei were as good as dead. He would not leave his wife to mourn them both.

"I think he can." Mirei felt calm. Sure, she didn't want to die or anything. But she was sure that Ente could do something. This was his life after all so he could choose what to do. And it was better than trying to run on a catwalk that was falling apart. "But Papa, you may have to jump soon. If you can hold my legs, I can make a big ice block you can use to push on. It'll absorb that. Buy us and him lots more time." Well not a lot, but it would have to be enough. She had to hope for that.

Her father heard her words, considered them. He almost laughed. "The reason I'm able to keep us away from it like this is because I'm on the ground, darling." He nearly smiled, though it looked more like he was gritting his teeth with effort. "If I jump, we'll be instantly sucked in. But… Giving it something else to focus on? Good idea. Help me with that." He tightened one arm on her and let the other hang back. A shimmer formed around his hand, before the same happened behind him. Condensation in the air, even in this infernal place, instantly froze and formed together to create a giant block of ice on the catwalk behind them. As soon as this block formed it started to break apart, being used to fuel the machine's process, insatiable as it was. The pull on the both of them lessened dramatically, allowing Rekushin to put more ground between them far more easily.

"Yes but you're running out of ways to run," Mirei pointed out to him in what she hoped was a reasonable tone of voice. She clapped her hands together and lots of tiny blocks started to form, followed by one much larger one. It was close to the size of her whole body! Hm. She screwed up her face. Not _nearly_ enough. She clapped again and instantly felt her mouth dry. Maybe that would help.

"Papa?" She said, rather cheerfully. "You have strange friends." Mirei then placed her hands on his arm. "How much energy does it take to bring him life?"

"We're essentially trying to create something from nothing." Rekushin actually did laugh a little. His darling little daughter. Such a way with words, even at such a young age. "That requires a lot of energy. That's why I thought the Core was the best place to have him come into this world." Her efforts did help. It merely felt like a hard wind was blowing at him, allowing him to finally run again. It wasn't long before they were out of the influence area, but he also knew that was likely to grow as the machine demanded _more._ More energy, more matter. Its hunger was going to know no bounds. The man kept running.

"Believe me, my darling, I know _exactly_ how odd my friends are." Any more banter stopped, however, when an odd alert began to play from the machine behind them. Rekushin paused as he turned, allowing he and his daughter to see what was to happen.

It began to distort, looking as if it was denting inward. The fringes of it bent and pulled toward its face. "W-WARNIng. WaRnING." The loud voice of it echoed, sounding just as distorted. Almost panicked. "ABsorBtiON PAttERn diSRUPted. T-tarGET swiTCHed. ComMEnSinG SElf-Con-Con-CONsuMPtiON."

"I… Don't think I ever put a function like that into my machine." Rekushin said with no small amount of uncertainty.

Mirei grinned up at him. "Ente must have heard after all!" She paused as if thinking about it. "You're going to have to make a new machine, I think. But! It's going to someone who needs it right now, so it should be okay. Still!" She formed one more ice block to hide behind. "Probably should duck though in case something goes boom."

"That is indeed a good idea." Rekushin added an even bigger and thicker one in front of hers, ducking behind them and curling around her just in case something did indeed, as per her words, 'go boom'.

There was no boom, though. Only the shrieking and squealing of metal as the machine devoured itself, the deep voice becoming nothing but a static wail as it was consumed by the light beginning to overtake it.

Then there was the sound of something _resembling_ an explosion, but it was more like the world was righting itself after something unnatural happened. Like the sealing of a vacuum.

In place of the machine, in place of everything that had _been_ there, was an egg. Gently floating in that space, if only for a moment. Rekushin quickly made a slope of ice under it when it began to fall, replacing all of the destroyed catwalk entirely to allow it to slide to them. He would have let Mirei down so he could pick it up easier, but her tiny hands still clung to him. He smiled at her before bending down to pick the egg up with one hand, holding it up to her.

Mirei did not let go at first, eyes fixed on the egg in her father's large palm. "Wow," she whispered. "It worked. And no one died." She reached out a hand to pat the egg on the shell, eyes sparkling at the warmth beneath her fingers. "Congrats, Ente. You're alive now."

"Indeed he is." Rekushin chuckled. He allowed Mirei to take the egg, which was nearly as big as she was, holding her against his chest. "And he's going to need a family to help raise him when he does hatch. I suppose he's going to become your little brother."

Mirei's eyes sparkled. She was fond of being the tiniest one in the house (physically and emotionally speaking) but someone tinier sounded not bad indeed. She bobbed her head. "I guess we'll have to be that family then!" She didn't really mind at all. Though mama said it was frustrating with her sometimes, it must be worthwhile in the end, because she said that too." She curled against her father, enjoying the moment while she had it instead of quibbling over tiny details.

Rekushin laughed. "Your mother will also say we're both blockheads for being so close to an experimental machine, without any idea what it might do because it hadn't been tested yet." He kissed the top of her head, only freezing when he heard his wife's voice behind him.

"And you'd be right, husband mine." Norn did _not_ sound happy. In fact she sounded rather angry. It honestly sent a chill down the spine. "Home. Now."

Mirei, being a child who currently lacked a significant amount of fear. only cheered up further. "Mama!" she greeted with great enthusiasm. "I helped," she told her other, smarter parent, particularly delighted. "We'd probably have papa particles without me."

She was a tiny thing after all, she had no real fear of her parents, particularly since she knew they loved her. Therefore, her mother's displeased temperament was only very minor in her worldview.

* * *

Rekushin, of course, was the one to receive the bumps. Not that his wife was being physically abusive or anything, but he did get a bop from her at least once. He figured he deserved it for putting both him and their daughter in such danger.

The girl was still on him, sitting on his lap. The egg was on hers, which she rubbed with that sparkle in her eye that made him fall in love with the tiny girl all over again. She didn't seem to be paying much attention as Norn paced in front of them, frantic and angry with no real outlet except for the ranting about their safety she was doing. He knew why she was doing it; Mirei was their only baby after everything. If she lost him as well, she'd likely have no idea what to do. He felt the same way.

Mirei paused to pat the egg, gently adjusting it in her lap. She bobbed back and forth and beamed up at her mother. "Mama," she chided happily. "Don't wear out your shoes." She went back to rubbing, humming in delight as she did. The death defiance was rather every day for her.

The goddess whirled at them again, eyes blazing, but the fire in her quickly died. Unlike himself, Rekushin mused, Norn just couldn't stay mad at Mirei long. Even if she _did_ do something risky and foolish. "The elves will happily make me new ones even if I do, my duckling." She said after a moment. "But you both _need_ to be less risky! I got there too late, what would have happened if you didn't happen to get that… That _monstrous_ machine to consume itself instead of everything around it?"

"Considering how much it was needing, it likely would have consumed all of the magma area." Rekushin reported. Norn only became enraged _again_ and began pacing once more, continuing her rant. This time about him actually testing the machine instead of, well, _not._ Rekushin learned his lesson now, he'd make sure to never repeat this folly. Rekushin gave a tired sigh and patted Mirei on the head, smiling down at her. It was nice to see _she_ could at least ignore this.

"I knew it would work though," Mirei said in the most placid voice imaginable. "It's hard but it can be done. He wanted to live a lot but he wouldn't have wanted to lose who he lived with. And if it wasn't going to work, we'd need to do something else! Isolate it with dimensional barriers and have it consume that space. If it hadn't worked, the machine would have been needed to be destroyed, and then he would just have had to wait again."

"People wanna live a lot," she continued, patting the egg. "More than they don't even when they don't think so. It's hard. But it feels good. It's good we're still here, right Mama?"

Norn had stopped pacing, listening to her until her eyes grew wet. Rekushin shook his head, trying not to chuckle. If there was anyone who could get this reaction from his wife, it was their daughter. He was relieved to see her calm, look apologetic even. She came over to them and knelt down to them, giving them a hug.

"Sorry. I was just so scared." She murmured. Almost tearful. "If I had lost you both, I don't know what I'd do."

"Nothing good." Rekushin assured her. His wife _could_ get a little extreme, sometimes - and yes he knew that was an understatement. She could literally put, as an old friend would say, 'the fear of god' into someone when she really got going. "But it would be understandable." He continued before she could droop. "I know what the machine can do now without proper testing. I will never allow that to happen again, put proper safeguards in place, if I were to ever rebuild it. But the day for me doing that right now… Those are far in the future. But more lost souls do indeed deserve a body, especially if they never had one. Like our friend." He patted the egg in Mirei's lap.

"... Yes." Norn sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know."

.Mirei adjusted the egg, carefully of course. Then she reached out and hugged her mother. "It's okay to be scared, Mama," she told her because it was. For they had told her so herself, even though she didn't fear easy, except for one, one thing. "But we're here and okay now, and we know what to do and not to do. And next time, you should come with us, just to be safe."

The idea of more souls who needed help tickled her mind. But for now… for now… yes, this one was just enough.

"I just might," her mother said with a sigh. "I just might."

Mirei cheered, and the egg wobbled its approval.

* * *

**_A/N:_** Ok it's done. I swear it's done. This fic was not supposed to be this long. Not even close. This is another sequel, but it can be mostly read on its own.

Onix: I am sorry this took so long. I was a derp.

I forgive you. Our next project is going to likely be wrapping up Cascade. Everything else is mostly separate as I write prism and then we do some work on Enduring. :D Please look forward to it!


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